Hey again, it's only 1am this time but I've been up because cleaning. I accidentally killed a spider thinking it was a cobweb but its fine. Anyways, next update is on the 31st.
Yuudai shuffles through his backpack for the fourth time that morning. He's only slightly worried he won't have everything he needs. He'd officially "graduated" from junior high school, meaning he was caught up with education and he was ready for high school stuff. That didn't mean he'd caught up to the rest of the class, though. Which was fine, Yuudai is completely prepared to fail every final and ever test this year.
His phone buzzes on the table, it's Midoriya. Yesterday the four of them went out to the mall like they'd planned. Yuudai got a data plan and everything, though he got a little help from Aizawa who went as a supervisor.
Midoriya: I'll meet you at the front gate.
Yuudai grins, first day of school.
Yuudai: I'll be there in 30.
Midoriya: Iida-kun said he'd go ahead of us and get the class ready.
Midoriya: How was the press conference yesterday? I was surprised you asked Principal Nezu to set up one in the first place. I thought you didn't like speaking in front of large crowds?
Yuudai hums, the announcement of an off season new student at U.A. had spread through the news like wildfire on Saturday. After he found out his name was going to be added he requested that Nezu call a conference to clarify why there was suddenly a new student. In hindsight it was a good idea but at the conference Yuudai thought it was one of his worst ideas yet. All he could remember was a lot of flashing lights and yelling. Nezu handled most of it while Aizawa stayed backstage with Yuudai, who decided suddenly that yes, he was afraid of large crowds of people. Specifically the loud ones with flashing lights and cameras.
Yuudai: It was loud. Nezu wrote my tardiness off as I had an accident after being accepted, which is slightly true. It satisfied them for now.
Midoriya: Did you get overwhelmed?
Yuudai smiles, Midoriya had shown more of his worry after Yuudai said he had trouble sleeping. He'd never actually told anyone about the thing that happened at Hosu. It made it more difficult to sleep, it was always too quiet and when it was too quiet he could remember that feeling. Yuudai did not want that so he texted anyone he could but normally the only one awake at 3am was Shinso or Aizawa. The message of not sleeping well somehow delivered itself from Shinso to Midoriya to Aizawa, causing everyone to worry just a little bit more.
Yuudai: Just a little. I'm really ready for today, though.
Midoriya: Are you sure? If it's too much Aizawa-sensei will probably let you leave class early.
Yuudai: I'll remember that.
"Kojiko-kun!" The doctor knocks on the door and enters, "Aizawa's here."
Yuudai zips up his backpack, and smiles at the doctor as he leaves.
"Morning, Kojiko." Aizawa greets as Yuudai hops into the car, he replies with a small nod of his head.
Yuudai: I'm on my way. Maybe 25 minutes.
Midoriya: Todoroki wants to know if you like soba.
Yuudai: I've never had it before. Why? Also he has my number, so he can just text me himself.
A pause.
"Your seat is behind Yaoyorozu Momo. The column closest to the window and the back row. You'll be sitting close to Todoroki so if you have questions ask him." Aizawa says, "All your teachers are willing to stay after class to help you if you don't understand something."
Yuudai nods.
"And if the students overwhelm you, just let them know. Most of them should listen."
Midoriya: I was supposed to ask without mentioning him. But he says that he didn't know if you liked soba and wanted to know before asking you to eat lunch with him.
Yuudai smiles, Todoroki was so awkward sometimes.
Yuudai: I'll eat lunch with him. I don't mind trying something new.
Midoriya: Todoroki says that soba is good and you won't be disappointed.
"Don't get motion sick." Aizawa mumbles.
"What?" Yuudai lifts his head away from his phone.
Aizawa glances at Yuudai, "You might get motion sick if you're on your phone while in the car."
"Maybe."
"Don't throw up in my car."
"I won't."
"Midoriya-kun." Yuudai appears next to Midoriya, who jumps after being surprised.
"Kojiko-kun!" Midoriya exclaims and stops, "You're wearing a hoodie!"
Yuudai tugs the hood over his face, "I'm just considering that I was mentioned on live television yesterday and I don't want to get bombarded by the press and students on the first day of school."
"You think about a lot of things." Midoriya smiles and walks into the school's campus.
"I think that thinking is important." Yuudai shrugs.
"The uniform…" Midoriya looks at Yuudai, "It suits you."
Yuudai grins, "Right? I'm wearing a hoodie under the blazer. Eraser Head said it was okay to not wear the blazer but I didn't want to stand out too much."
"It's unique." Midoriya shrugs.
"Like your small tie?" Yuudai points at Midoriya's tie.
Midoriya fiddles with it, "Well, we're allowed to make small changes to the uniforms. Shoji-kun doesn't have sleeves because of his Quirk and Kaminari-kun never uses the second button on his blazer."
"Maybe I should have worn my black hoodie…" Yuudai examines the sleeves of his sweater, the sleeves were blue while the body was a dark grey.
Midoriya pats Yuudai on the shoulder, "You're fine, Kojiko-kun."
"I brought everything you said I'd need." Yuudai looks to Midoriya, feeling accomplished.
"That's great!" Midoriya gives Yuudai a thumbs up.
"I still think that I'm not going to be able to keep up in class." Yuudai sighs, "I've only just caught up to where the classes are now, and sure my Quirk makes me remember and understand everything so far but in class I can't use my Quirk. I'll just be rereading my notes over and over. And I can't even participate in the practical test because that dumb doctor banned me from overworking myself."
Midoriya smiles, "At least you can attend class now."
Yuudai snaps twice, "You're right!"
"Are you having lunch with Todoroki-kun?" Midoriya asks as they walk through the halls.
"I'm trying soba. You should know this if you're the one who told me he wanted to eat with me to begin with." Yuudai pokes Midoriya in the shoulder, "And besides, Todoroki-kun eats lunch with you, right? That means I'll just join your group."
"Ah, right."
Yuudai smirks, "I'll try katsudon tomorrow, how does that sound?"
"Did you notice?" Mineta says dramatically, "The other topic besides the Forest Lodge and Final Exams that none of the teachers has brought up?"
"What? The Practical Exams?" Kaminari asks.
Mineta shakes his head, "No, no, not that. The new student, ne-w stu-dent."
"Oh right!" Kirishima exclaims, "It was on the news yesterday!"
"We've all been worried about Exams that we didn't really think about the new kid…" Sero only vaguely remembers what the conference was about.
"He's coming today, right?"
"It's probably why Yao-momo and Iida got called outside." Ashido points out.
"Now that I notice, Deku-kun is late..." Uraraka takes a closer look around the classroom.
The door slides open, it's Iida and Yaoyorozu.
"How's it with the new student?" Kaminari asks as they walk to their desks.
"He's a bit quiet," Yaoyorozu says honestly.
Iida waves his arms, "Aizawa-sensei has sent us ahead to get you guys seated and quiet."
"Where's Midoriya-kun?"
"He's walking with the student," Yaoyorozu says, "The two had met prior to the press conference to give him a way to learn about the school."
"Do we get to know his name?" Sero asks with a raised hand.
"He'll introduce himself," Yaoyorozu turns her head to the door, "I think."
"You think?" Kirishima echoes.
"Is the guy not able to speak for himself or something?" Bakugou growls, "And how's the bastard even able to get into U.A. when he wasn't even at the Entrance Exam?"
"You haven't even met the guy yet, Bakugou." Kirishima smiles at him.
The door slides open again, "Sorry I'm late."
"Midoriya-kun!" Iida greets, "Where's…"
Midoriya sighs and points behind him, "Just a little stage fright."
"Really?" Iida walks to the door and looks in the hall.
Yuudai was sitting next to the door, playing with his shoelaces.
"Kojiko-kun," Iida whispers, "Are you going to come inside? You need to introduce yourself and first period starts in three minutes."
Yuudai looks like he's almost about to cry, "Iida-kun, talking in front of a group of people is one of the few things that makes me shut down. I keep forgetting because if I think about it, talking to people is really easy but when I do it...I don't know how to talk to them if I've never met them! How am I supposed to act around them? If I say something wrong-"
Iida cuts him off, "You'll be fine. Just act like you normally do."
Yuudai blanks out, "Normally?"
"Yeah, normally." Iida confirms.
Yuudai shakes his head and waves arms rapidly, "No, no, no, if I talk normally I'll definitely get-"
"Nothing is going to happen, Kojiko-kun." Midoriya pokes his head into the hallway and smiles, "Not even Kacchan is like that anymore. I promise that nothing can happen."
Yuudai buries his face in his hands, "I know that…"
"Do you need help standing up?" Midoriya asks and holds out a hand.
Yuudai takes a few deep breaths, "I'm good."
"If you're sure." Midoriya gives Yuudai an encouraging smile before walking back inside.
It takes Yuudai a minute to build enough courage to even walk into the room. When he does walk into the room, he tries really hard not to stare at the floor. Instead of staring at the floor or getting overwhelmed by everyone else's stares, Yuudai unconsciously decided the best course of action was to talk to friends. Basically locking eyes with Midoriya and pretending no one else was there. He also sort of fiddled with his fingers behind his back, but that was hardly noticeable.
"I'm Kojiko Yuudai. I'm fourteen physically...um…I did...sorta...want to attend U.A. but I had an accident before..." Yuudai takes a breath, "I think that I might bring trouble to this class but I hope I can be friends with everyone."
Yuudai looks at the floor, waiting for someone to say something.
"Aizawa-sensei! Good morning." Yaoyorozu greets the teacher as he enters the room.
"Morning everyone." Aizawa shuffles his way to the front of the room, "You can go sit now, Kojiko."
Yuudai gladly scurries to the empty desk in the corner of the room.
"So can I call you by your first name or do you prefer your last name?" Ashido asks during second period.
Present Mic thought it was a good idea to have Yuudai get to know everyone in class better and made the class a self-study.
"Ah...I don't mind either…" Yuudai replies, not making eye contact.
"So Yuu-kun is fine?" Ashido creates a nickname.
Yuudai blushes a little, he's never had a nickname before, "Yeah…"
"You're probably the youngest kid in class." Kirishima brings up, "You said you're fourteen, you turnin' fifteen soon?"
"And the accident that you mentioned?"
Yuudai looks at his hands, "My birthday is on the 26th."
"No way! Isn't that soon?" Kaminari exclaims.
Jiro jabs him in the side with her earphone jack, "It's tomorrow you idiot."
"Uwaa!" Kirishima exclaims, "I guess we should celebrate then."
"Doesn't that mean you're a year younger than us?" Ojiro asks.
"Yeah…" Yuudai nods again.
"That's so cool! You must be really smart or something." Kaminari sighs, "If only I could skip a year like that."
"Like that'll ever happen." Jiro teases.
"I'm not smart...my parents...didn't enroll me in kindergarten...so I went to first grade at age 5…" Yuudai says quietly.
Midoriya whispers to Iida, the two of them were watching Yuudai warm up to the rest of the class, "He's doing okay, you think?"
"He's a little quiet." Iida observes.
"That's just because he's not used to a group of people." Todoroki inputs his thoughts.
"Maybe…" Midoriya frowns, "I hope he's not too overwhelmed."
"So Deku-kun," Uraraka strolls over to Midoriya, "How'd you meet Kojiko-kun?"
"Actually, Aizawa-sensei asked me to talk to him about classes." Midoriya tells the half truth, he guessed it would be better to not mention the whole physical therapy and the Hero Killer thing now.
"Really, ribbit. It seems like he's smart," Asui looks over at Yuudai struggling to talk to everyone at once.
"I'm not that smart, actually." Yuudai says quietly, "I've barely caught up to this week's classes."
"Caught up?" Ashido tilts her head, "What rank in class are you?"
Yuudai shrugs, "Probably the bottom."
"I'm at the bottom!" Kaminari exclaims, "There's no way you could be below me!"
"Yeah, this idiot is the 20th in the class." Jiro smirks.
"Well, now that I'm here that would be 20 out of 21 instead of 20 out of 20…" Yuudai points out.
"I guess you're right." Sero thinks about it.
"Also, I'm still taking remedial classes so I'll be 21st for a little longer."
"Why do you need to take remedial classes? I know you missed a couple months but I didn't think you'd need too many remedial classes," Kirishima notes.
Yuudai scratches his head, knowing that it would probably be fine to talk about the hospital, "Actually, I've missed the last two years of school…"
"Eh?!" Most of the class exclaims.
"You skipped two years of class?!" Kaminari exclaims.
"Were you busy with a-" Mineta gets cut off before his sentence can get any worse.
"How were you able to get into U.A. without taking your last two years of junior high?" Hagakure pipes up.
Yuudai seems to be a little smaller after the horde questions, "I was sorta in the hospital for two years…"
"Eh!?"
"The hospital? For two years!?" Kaminari leans forward in surprise.
"Yeah, I got into an accident and then a coma." Yuudai fiddles with his fingers again.
"A coma!?"
"No way!" Ashido says with disbelief.
"So that's what you meant by accident and that's what physically means…"
Yuudai shrugs, "I'm fine now so they let me come to class."
"That still doesn't explain how some random extra got into U.A.'s Hero Course without even taking the exam," Bakugou says from his seat.
"Bakugou, there's probably a reason." Kirishima argues.
"Actually, there's not really a great reason." Yuudai waves his hand.
"Are you sure you're ready to come back to class," Yaoyorozu asks, "I mean, if it was an accident serious enough to cause a coma then you must have been seriously injured."
"It wasn't anything physically damaging." Yuudai says, "My doctor let me come to class because I'm healed now. I'm just not allowed to push it."
"If you ever feel like something's wrong you can tell us!" Kirishima declares, "We're classmates now and Class 1-A is pretty tight knit."
"You think so?"
"It's what I think." Kirishima shrugs.
"You say that because you're all friendly with everyone. Even Bakugou!" Ashido points out.
"I'm definitely not friendly with Shitty Hair!" Bakugou stands up at his desk.
Ashido laughs, "You say that but just five minutes ago you offered to help him study for the exams."
"That's because I'm virtuous! I can tutor way better than Ponytail ever could." Bakugou shouts.
"Sure. And you just happened to pick Kirishima to prove that point." Ashido says sarcastically, making Bakugou slam his hands on his desk which causes Kirishima to stand next to him. He's like a natural calming agent that somehow soothes Bakugou to a less explosive state.
Yuudai rubs his eyes and almost slams his head into his desk. It really was no good. He couldn't focus and he couldn't understand anything on what the teachers had been saying for the past four hours. He really wishes he could use his Quirk during class, even his notes were getting sloppier.
"Kojiko." Yuudai raises his head as he hears a familiar voice call his name.
"Todoroki-kun."
Todoroki is standing next to Yuudai's desk with his hands in his pockets, "It's lunch time."
"Soba?"
Todoroki nods, he looked like he was looking forward to eating lunch.
"Where's the cafeteria?" Yuudai stands up and shoves his papers into his desk.
"Everyone went ahead because it gets crowded, I'm walking with you." Todoroki heads to the door.
Yuudai stays somewhat close to his side. He walks even closer and puts up his hood once they get to the cafeteria. Yuudai can see Midoriya at a table with Iida, Uraraka, Asui, and Hagakure.
"Two cold soba." Todoroki says once they reach the counter, "Thank you."
Yuudai keeps his head down.
"Kojiko, that one's yours." Todoroki picks up one tray and nods at the other.
"Thanks…" Yuudai picks up the tray and walks with Todoroki to the table.
Todoroki sits down and starts eating. Eventually he notices a stare coming from the right, it's Yuudai who's watching him eat soba. Todoroki goes back to eating, looking at Yuudai again.
He chews and swallows, "Do you need something?"
Yuudai ducks his head, "Is there...like...a special way to eat cold soba?"
"Ah…" Todoroki looks at Yuudai plate, "First you put that," he points at the tiny plate of green onions, "and put it in that," he points at the bowl of sauce. Then you take the soba and you dip in the sauce."
Yuudai carefully follows his instructions and stares at the dripping soba in his chopsticks.
"...then you eat it." Todoroki says.
Yuudai nods and quietly continues eating his soba. He didn't really notice Todoroki waiting for him to tell him that it was good but Todoroki could tell Yuudai liked it without words.
"Kojiko-kun, why have you kept your hood up, ribbit?" Asui, who's sitting across from Iida, asks.
Yuudai continues eating, "To stay out of trouble."
Asui doesn't exactly know how to respond to that. Hagakure tries to, though.
"What sort of trouble?" She asks with a little bit of pep.
Yuudai raises his head a little, "Just trouble."
"Deku-kun, does Kojiko-kun have a thing with crowds?" Uraraka whispers to Midoriya.
"A small thing, yeah. But all the other times he wasn't anything like this." Midoriya watches as Yuudai sorta warms up as Hagakure asks more questions, "He feels more distant than normal."
"I hope no one tries to mess with him just because he's new." Uraraka sighs.
"It's the cafeteria so if people want to bother Kojiko-kun it'll make it more difficult to find him." Midoriya looks around and spots Shinso who nods his head in a greeting. Midoriya nods back but neither of them make a move to get up and talk to each other.
"So, so, for the Exams, what kind of studying are you doing?" Hagakure asks.
Yuudai clicks his chopsticks, "I only just caught up on the lessons and assignments. I'll probably spend the rest of this week catching up to the current assignments and more review."
"Ehhh, that must be tough," Hagakure sighs then says energetically, "I need to work hard too!"
"I'm also not allowed to participate in the Practical Exam, doctor's orders." Yuudai adds on.
"So that means you'll probably be taking remedial classes over the summer, ribbit." Asui mentions.
Yuudai nods, "I'm fine with that. I need to catch up."
"The Practical Exam...huh?" Midoriya sighs, "It's kind of scary since I can't tell what'll be on it."
"I don't think it'll be anything crazy."
"'It'll be a comprehensive test of everything from first semester.' That's all Aizawa-sensei would tell us." Asui remembers.
"Everything we did so far…" Uraraka thinks.
Yuudai puts up a hand and counts, "Combat training. Rescue training. Basic training. Fighting villains."
"Uwaa! Yuudai knows what we did?" Hagakure asks with amazement.
Yuudai nods, "I talk to Midoriya-kun a lot and he catches me up on classes."
Midoriya rubs his chin, "In addition to studying, we'll have to keep in good physical conditio-"
An elbow to the head cuts him off. Yuudai stands up and glares at the attacker on instinct.
"Oh, sorry. Your head was so big that I accidentally hit it." It's Monoma Neito, from Class 1-B.
"You're from Class B…" Midoriya exclaims, "Um...Monoma-kun! How dare you-"
"I heard you guys met the Hero Killer." That sentence calms Midoriya down but definitely doesn't do anything for Yuudai, who's still standing up, "Just like at the sports festival, you guys in Class A just have to have all the attention, huh? And you even got that new student, right?"
Yuudai takes a step towards him but is blocked by Todoroki.
"But that attention isn't because people have high hopes for you." Monoma keeps talking, "It's because you keep attracting trouble, right? Oh, that's scary. Someday, the rest of us might also be caught up in the trouble you bring and become victims as well...Like getting cursed by the god of pestilence! Oh, that's sca-"
If someone else didn't punch him Yuudai would've. Luckily there was Kendo Itsuka for Monoma control.
"Monoma, that's not funny." She sets down the tray that he nearly dropped, "Don't you know what happened to Iida?"
"Kendo!"
"Sorry, Class A." Kendo apologizes, "This guy's heart's just kinda, you know."
Yuudai takes a breath and sits down, pulling his hood down over his face more.
"Kojiko, that actually might attract more attention." Todoroki says quietly.
"You guys were talking earlier about how you don't know what's gonna be on the Practical Exam for the finals, right?" Kendo confirms, "Looks like it'll be combat against robots like in the entrance exam."
"What?" Midoriya sits up, "Really? How'd you know that?"
"An upperclassman friend of mine told me. It's kind of cheating, though."
Yuudai talks quietly, only loud enough for Todoroki to hear, "It could be different though. If that was last year's exam it might be a different thing this year. Because of the villain attacks and everything. They probably think we're able to handle something more than robots."
"Kojiko…"
"They're not detestable!" Kendo says in a cheery tone as she walks away with Monoma and tray in hand.
"She's like the big sister of Class B, huh?" Midoriya notes.
"I like her," Yuudai decides, "She looks fun."
"I'm glad no one seems to be bothering you, though. About the new student thing." Uraraka mentions.
Yuudai nods, "The press conference probably helped a little. I don't expect to not be approached, though."
"You have a plan? Like a speech?" Hagakure guesses.
"I plan to run." Yuudai says simply.
"R-run?"
Yuudai eats the last of his soba, "Yeah, just ignore it. Stay out of trouble."
"Kojiko-kun...that's probably not the best course of action." Iida says.
"Also, what kind of trouble do you keep talking about?"
"Just trouble," Yuudai repeats, eating the last of his soba.
Todoroki is slightly confused, "But it seems like out of school, you don't mind getting into any trouble."
Yuudai shrugs, "I'm going to go back to the classroom. I need to organize my desk."
"Sh-should one of us go with you?" Uraraka suggests.
Yuudai shrugs, "If you want to, but you're still eating. Don't worry, I won't get lost."
"If you say so…" Uraraka holds back on gulping down the rest of her meal.
Midoriya watches as Yuudai makes his way out of the cafeteria.
"You worried about him?" Iida asks.
Midoriya nods in reply, "He didn't exactly have the best experience in school…"
"Like with you and Bakugou-kun?" Uraraka guesses.
Midoriya shakes his head, "Maybe something like that. We should give him some space, anyways."
Yuudai hums to himself as he walks back to the classroom, taking extra care to see if hallways are empty before he walks down them. It was only the first day, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Plus, bullies don't have schedules.
"Nothing is going to happen, Kojiko-kun."
Yuudai shakes his head and takes a breath. Midoriya-kun's right. This is U.A.. People here are training to be heroes, there shouldn't be anything like bullying…
Thankfully, Yuudai makes it back to the classroom without interruptions. It takes him a bit longer than expected, the walk was almost doubled because he keeps freezing unnecessarily at noises, both quiet and loud. Yuudai rubs his eyes and shifts through his papers, I need to buy more folders...